Multiple latch for a refrigerator door



Jan. 24, 1956 w. J. SCHEMERS MULTIPLE LATCH FOR A REFRIGERATOR DOOR Filed June 2, 1952 72 nventor Fg'gmy/m cjkfi/ m a fid/ZWY'WQ Gttomegs United States Patent This inventionwrelates, to refrigerators and, in particu- -.lar, to multiple latches for, refrigerator doors.

I onesobjectofthisinvention is to provide a multiple a latch for refrigerator 'doors which will securely hold. an

elongated refrigerator door in its closed ;.position. and prevent passage ofairand moisture into or out of the refrigerator.

Another. object is to provide a multiple latch for refrigerator doors which .will simultaneously hold an elongated-z refrigerator. door firmly closed at widely separated ,f-locations-along .its;ou.ter edge, thereby preventing or re- ;ducing buckling or warping of the door and consequently eliminatingthe'leakage .defects' which arise from such i-buckled or warped doors.

Another object is toprovide a multiple latch for re- .frigerator: doors of the foregoing character whichpro- "vides two or .more'widely-separated latches operated from a single handle, this handlebeing preferably located, re- ;mote from the latches in a position which ,is within easy reachsof anadult user but out of the reach ofasmall child.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the'following description of. the accompanying'drawing, wherein:

Figure. l.is a front elevation of a conventional refrigerator equipped with a multiple latch according to one form of the invention, with the door partly broken away to showthe latch mechanism more clearly;

. Figure .2 is a side elevation of the, refrigerator shown in Figure 1, with the door also broken away for the: same purpose;v and :Figurei3 is a horizontal section. on two levelstaken along the Z-shaped line 33 in Figure 1.

Modern refrigerators, in order to conserve floor space and yet obtain the necessary large capacity, are tall in proportion to their width and therefore require greatly elongated doors. Such long doors are ordinarily equipped with a single latch which holds the door closed at a single location. Such long doors with single latches have hitherto been subject to warping and buckling on the latch edge of the door even though they ordinarily employ three hinges along the opposite edge which hold the hinge edge of the door straight. When such a door warps or buckles, it lets air in and out of the refrigerator, causing the leakage of cold air with a consequent increase in the cost of refrigeration. Moreover, if, as frequently is the case, the refrigerator is equipped with an inside glass door which closes the freezer portion of the refrigerator, this leakage causes sweating on the glass door, building up frost to so great an extent as to prevent pr'oper opening of this door. Such long doors, when buckled or warped, are difficult to patch or straighten, hence correction thereof is diflicult.

The present invention provides a multiple latch for such elongated refrigerator doors which securely holds the door against the door opening at widely separated locations along the outer edge of the door, thereby preventing warping or buckling and accordingly preventing leakage of air, into or out of the refrigerator. As a.consequence, the above-mentioned defects arising fromsuch :door warping or buckling are completely prevented. In particular, the invention provides a pair ofwidelysep- 1. arated latches operated simultaneously from an intermediate handle. This handle can be placed highenoughpto be within easy reach of an adult yet out of. the reach [of ,a small child.

..Referring to thedrawings in detail, Figures 1 and. 2

[show a refrigerator, generally designated 10, having a casingll equipped with avertically-elongated door 12 pivotedthereto at multiple spaced hinges 13 alongv its inner edge and provided with a multiple latch,.generally designated 14 along its outer edge. .The refrigerator .casing, 11.is provided with inner and outer walls 15 and .16 interconnected by aidoor jarnb or front wall 17. The

refrigerator casing 11 contains-a compartment 18 having an,.opening.19. closed by the door 11. A gasket 20 of elastic deformable material such as rubber, synthetic rubber or a combination thereof, closesthe gap 21 between the inner face. 22 of the door 12 and. the door jamb 17, for the purpose of preventing or at least minimizing leak- .age .of air and. moistureinto or out. of the compart- ,ment;18.

..Secured to the door jamb 17 at widely spaced locations along the open edge 23 of the d0or.12, are two or more latch units, generally designated 25, vthesebeing operated Immediately opposite each of 'the keepers 27, the door .12. is provided with upper and lower box-like latch com- .partments31 (Figure 3) having side walls 32 and a back Wallv 33. The .door 12 has an outer wall 34 which curves around at the edges into engagementwith the inner wall 22. .Also mounted .in the door. 12 between the upper .and, lower latch compartments 31 is a handle compartment 37 housing the handle unit 26 and having side walls .38. The remainder of the door between theouter and inner walls -34- and. 22 is ordinarily filled with' insulating vmateriali39to reduce heat conduction through thejdoor .12. .The. construction of the refrigerator 10 as regards .its casing 11- anddoorv 12 is conventional and its. details are, beyond. the scope of the present invention, except for the features related to the present invention.

Bolted, riveted or otherwise secured to the back wall 33 of the recessed portion 32 of the inner wall 22 of the door 12 is the base 40 of a latch bolt housing 41 in which a latch bolt 42 is movably mounted. The latch bolt 42 has a bevelled outer end 43 (Figure 3) which travels into and out of engagement with the bevelled latch hook 30 to latch and unlatch the door 12 relatively to the keeper 27. A compression spring 44 normally urges the bevelled outer end 43 of the bolt 42 into a wedging and latching engagement with the bevelled latch hook 30 of the keeper 27, which thereby urges the inner face 22 of the door 12 and its gasket 20 toward and into sealing engagement with the door jamb 17.

In order to move the bolt 42 in this manner, it is provided with a pin 45 engaged by an arm 46 mounted on a vertical shaft or rod 47. The rod or shaft 47 interconnects the two or more arms 46 of the two or more latch units 25 so that rotation of the shaft 47 simultaneously swings the two or more arms 46 and simultaneously retracts their respective bolts 42.

The rod or shaft 47 passes through the handle unit compartment 37 and in that compartment carries an arm 48 which is pivoted at 49 to one end of a link 50, the opposite end of which is pivoted at 51 to one arm 52 of a bell-crank-shaped handle lever 53, the other arm 54 of which forms a handle. The handle lever 53 is pivoted at 55 to a handle bracket 56 which is secured to the outer door wall 34 (Figure 3).

In the operation of the invention, to open the door 12 from its closed position shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3, the operator grasps the handle 54 of the handle lever 53 and pulls outward. This action rocks the bell-crank handle lever 53 around its pivot 55 (Figure 3), swinging the arms 52 and 48 outward within the compartment 37 through the intermediate action of the link 50. This action ro- 42 ride over the ends 30 of their keepers 27 and are returned to latching position by their compression springs 44. In this manner, the door is held firmly closed along its open edge 23 by two bolts 42 and keepers 27 at widely spaced locations not far from the top and bottom edges of the door 12. Accordingly, the latch mechanism 14 effectively prevents or at least minimizes warping of the door and consequently prevents or minimizes the leakage of air or moisture into or out of the refrigerator through gaps which would otherwise be present around the edge of the door.

What I claim is:

1. An anti-warp door-latching mechanism comprising a pair of latch bolt housings secured in longitudinallyspaced relationship to the open edge of the door, a latch bolt reciprocably mounted in each housing, means responsive to the locking reciprocation of said bolt for urging said door into a closing and sealing engagement with the door frame, a resilient element operatively connected to each latch bolt and yieldingly urging said latch bolt in a latching direction, a motion-transmitting bolt-retracting device including a vertically-disposed rotatable rod operatively interconnecting said bolts in simultaneous actuating relationship, and a handle operatively connected to said rod intermediate said bolts.

2. An anti-warp door-latching mechanism comprising a pair of latch bolt housings secured in longitudinallyspaeed relationship to the open edge of the door, a latch bolt reciprocably mounted in each housing, means responsive to the locking reciprocation of said bolt for urging said door into a closing and sealing engagement with the door frame, a resilient element operatively connected to each latch bolt and yieldingly urging said latch bolt in a latching direction, a motion-transmitting bolt-retracting device including a vertically-disposed rotatable rod operatively interconnecting said bolts in simultaneous actuating relationship, and a handle operatively connected to said rod intermediate said bolts, said device including an arm connected to said rod adjacent each bolt and operatively engageable therewith.

3. An anti-warp door-latching mechanism comprising a pair of latch bolt housings secured in longitudinallyspaced relationship to the open edge of the door, a latch bolt reciprocably mounted in each housing, means responsive to the locking reciprocation of said bolt for urging said door into a closing and sealing engagement with the door frame, a resilient element operatively connected to each latch bolt and yieldingly urging said latch bolt in a latching direction, a motion-transmitting boltretracting device including a vertically-disposed rotatable rod operatively interconnecting said bolts in simultaneous actuating relationship, and a handle unit including a bellcrank lever operatively connected to said rod intermediate said bolts.

4. An anti-warp door-latching mechanism comprising a pair of latch bolt housings secured in longitudinallyspaced relationship to the open edge of the door, a latch bolt reciprocably mounted in each housing, means responsive to the locking reciprocation of said bolt for urging said door into a closing and sealing engagement with the door frame, a resilient element operatively connected to each latch bolt and yieldingly urging said latch bolt in a latching direction, a motion-transmitting bolt-retracting device including a vertically-disposed rotatable rod operatively interconnecting said bolts in simultaneous aetuating relationship, and a handle unit including a bellcrank lever operatively connected to said rod intermediate said bolts, said device including an arm connected to said rod adjacent each bolt and operatively engageable therewith.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 920,501 Thorp May 4, 1909 1,006,211 Hermon Oct. 17, 1911 1,161,772 Inonye Nov. 23, 1915 1,164,743 Musselman et al. Dec. 21, 1915 1,567,662 Mack Dec. 29, 1925 2,041,099 Williams May 19, 1936 2,172,467 Geddes Sept. 12, 1939 2,386,495 Nieter Oct. 9, 1945 

